Just a short thought to add to the thread (sorry if this was mentioned earlier): If you come up with a random name, be careful and analyze it a bit. Not just look up on Google but check for anagrams as well. If changing the order of letters would give something weird or offensive, people may not believe that it was not intentional. Say you innocently call your villain's assassin "Gengir the barbarian" (I let you figure out what could happen)
I'm incredibly big on name meanings. I actually worry that my readers will be able to tell ahead of time about characters if they put in the work but I doubt that people really do that, at least often. However, most of the time, when I choose character names it can take me hours. I research their meanings. Like for instance, I have a character named Regina which means enthusiasm, and her last name means prize or reward. She's a woman who is often a mistress to men for the purpose of seeking blackmail or other ill-gotten gains. She seeks rewards with enthusiasm. Most of my names are little nods like that. However, I've also included names of people I know and like as little nods, gifts in a strange way to to people who have been incredibly supportive to my writing. So people who are nice characters in my pieces, like kind neighbors, helpful taxi drivers, etc. people who only have first names often get named in recognition of those people. I also morph names of people I don't like for dislikable characters if I'm being honest. If there is a Roger I dislike there may be a Roderick in my book who is a real Jackal. I probably spend far too much time with names, but I find I really enjoy that aspect. I find a lot of meaning in it.
Really? My first thought with "Gengir the Barbarian" was either Genghis Khan or "Cohen the Babrarian" (who becomes Genghiz Cohen). ========================== Like Shelin, I'm very particular about my character names and when they could mean, but I suck at thinking up names. This is why I've obsessively tried various name generators before settling on Behind The Name, a fantastic resource of the etymology and history of first names. (They've also done the same for last names). Not only does it give you English names, but also in almost any other language you can think of, including ancient languages (Latin, Babylonian, Ancient Greek, Assyrian, etc.). It also has mythological names, fantasy names, names from Arthurian romance ... any region of the world, it has them. Plus, they're divided into male, female, and unisex. So, if you want a good authentic name for any character -- a female servant from ancient Greece, a male merchant from Ghana, a unisex traveler from Kurdistan -- Behind The Name has you covered. Check it out! Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, employed by or associated with Behind The Name in any shape or form in perpetuity throughout the multiverse. I'm simply very happy with this website, that's all.
Sometimes, if the character is really important to the story, I'll use a combination of a name with a specific meaning and a google translate word for the last name that either foreshadows something about the character or means something important about the character. If it's a minor character or someone that I want to foreshadow dying, I'll give them a name like Red Camicia, or a variation of that. I named a character Nomen once which, if I remember correctly, is Latin for Name. I also do this with towns, cities, and stores. I'll call a town something like Oppidum or, if say I need a name for an Italian Restaurant, I'll call it Ristorante italiano. Or, if I'm feeling really silly, I'll try to find a way to make the restaurant name translate to, "I don't care". It's my way of having fun with the people reading.
I'll second Behind the Name. It's on my bookmarks for just that reason. Names I write with tend to be meaningful somehow, even if it's a vague meaning. Being really honest, naming characters is one of my least favourite aspects of writing fiction. I tend to stick to smaller casts for that reason. Heck, I even struggled to name my own children.
funny story..... i had placeholder names for 2 characters in my notes: "Dungeon" (a character that is kept in a dungeon) and "Moon" (a character that only comes out at night). When i started drafting the story yesterday, i had no usable names for them. So for "Dungeon," I happened to glance down at my desk and the first thing i saw was the cover of a literary magazine and the featured author's name. I realized i liked the name, so I gave "Dungeon" that author's first name for "Moon," I felt like names beginning with "Ah" or "Uh" would go better with the name I chose for "Dungeon," so I went to 20000-NAMES.com, went to "A" names and scrolled until I found the right name.
